Right Place, Right Time

The Crazy Horse Memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota
is open the first weekend in June for a Volksmarch. In 2002 I was lucky enough to
be there at the right time.

Think nobody would come all the way from Rapid City to do the hike?
Guess again!

"Volksmarch" is German for "People's
March." It's a popular custom in Europe, where swarms of hikers turn
out for group hikes, but isn't as well known in the U.S.

The Way Up

That's not shrubbery on the arm - it's people, from end to
end. That's how popular this event is.

This may be art but it's also heavy engineering. A service
road leading to the sculpture.

Participants checking in at a checkpoint.

Below: views of the memorial. The face is done and the arm and horse's
head are being outlined and roughed in.

What You Don't See From the Highway

View From the Top

Geology of the Memorial

Contrast between finished and rough rock

The memorial is geologically very similar to Mount Rushmore:
a pod of granitic migmatite surrounded by schists and slates. This and
many other knobs in the Black Hills stand above their surroundings because
they are more resistant than the metamorphic rocks around them.

The hill behind (north of) the memorial is another pod of
granitic migmatite that stands out in relief.

Left and below: close-ups of the migmatitic rocks

A xenolith in the migmatitic rocks.

Natural exposure of migmatitic rocks.

The contact between the migmatitic rocks and schist can be
seen on the back side of Crazy Horse's head. Below are closeups of the
contact.

Lfft: a contact between schist and granite

Below: the schists and slates that surround the monument.

Armpit of South Dakota

What will eventually be a gap between Crazy Horse's arm and
the mane of his horse has been roughed out. The dipping fractures are
related to the foliation or grain of the migmatite

The Way Down

The return via the service road east of the memorial offers
clearer views of the end of the memorial than the hike up.

Left and below: schists on US 16-385 just outside the memorial.

The Visitor Center

Visitor Center with the sculpture in the background.

Looking up at the peak of the tepee.

Left and below: The design of the sculpture with the work in
progress behind it.